Canton author Bernard Mendillo releases second full novel

Bernard Mendillo was walking through Fenway one day after work on his way to Ruggles Station and a train home when he saw an attractive young woman standing alone, staring into space and crying. When he looked across the street, he saw a young man staring at the woman and surmised that the couple had had an argument.

Bernard Mendillo

Mendillo said nothing to either one, but when he arrived at the station, he thought about the couple. “I should have gone to the guy and said, ‘Go over to her and say you’re sorry.’” As Mendillo thought about it, he realized that the scene he had witnessed lent itself to a story. Marvin Piersoll, Mendillo’s second novel, is the story of a man who decides he has nothing to lose after his second marriage ends. The book, which is independently published, is available for purchase at amazon.com.

Mendillo, a native of Rhode Island, has been writing since his days as a student at Brown University. He has written 18 plays and two novels, as well as several short stories and poems. He worked in marketing and advertising for 35 years, until his retirement last June. “I did a lot of writing on the side,” he said, “but never enough to make a living at it.”

He describes the process of writing as one based on a central theme. “I see it in my head,” he explained, using anxiety and worry as examples. “A couple who lets everyday worries almost ruin their lives. Or a person who worries about mailing a letter. ‘Did I mail that letter?’ I ask myself that.”

Constant Sorrow is a play that Mendillo wrote that deals with some of those worries. It’s a comedy about a man who believes he has never had one complete day of happiness in his life. The main character spends a day with his children, reflecting on his past and coming to terms with where he is in his life.

Another one of his plays, A House that God Hates, is Mendillo’s interpretation of the Greek tragedy Agamemnon. He read Agamemnon as a sophomore in college and loved it. The play was recently performed at the Women’s Ensemble Theatre in Los Angeles.

Mendillo has two children from his first marriage. His daughter, Hollie, is an actress in California, and his son, Christopher, is an astrophysicist. He and his wife, Robin, have a son, Benjamin, and a daughter, Bella, whom they adopted from China. Mendillo is working on Bella in America, the story of his daughter’s journey from China to Canton.

When he worked in Boston, Mendillo wrote during his train trips to work and back. “I’ve always been able to do that,” he said of his writing. “I can do it on the fly.” Nowadays he heads for the Amber Road Café on Washington Street, where he spends about an hour and a half working. “I have a nice breakfast and write,” he said.

In addition to Bella in America, Mendillo is working on Football: A Memoir, Sunday Dinner with the Mendillo Boys, and What Cheer, all coming out in 2011. For more information about Mendillo and a full synopsis of his books, go to www.mendillo.net.

Bernard Mendillo will have a “Meet the Author” event at the Canton Library on Tuesday, December 7, at 7 p.m. in the Community Room. Mendillo will talk about how he wrote the book, do a reading and answer questions.

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Posted by Mary Ann Price on Nov 11 2010. Filed under Features. Both comments and pings are currently closed.